RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and permanently minted on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
Further utility was added to the RomanPunks experience through the launch of Catacombs RPG powered by DueUtil, where Discord users spawn quests by engaging in the server; and a small percentage of the time, users will slay quests that are redeemable for WAX NFT airdrops.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
As the market gets increasingly more crowded and therefore more difficult for indie projects to get noticed in the NFT space, we felt it prudent to band up with a group of similarly aligned projects (alt-punk and others) from back in the day to form TOGA (The OG Alliance) as a collective marketing and promotional effort.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
After a great deal of trial and error with The Sandbox VoxEdit and Light Tracer apps, we finally were able to launch our RomanPunks VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once it is open to us.
It's been a long, hard road but we've finally minted 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters. With the foundation of the project complete, we can now focus on developing backstories and plotlines to use in comic and game development.
The upcoming WAX Fighter Pack Series II will hold over 150 'fighter' class NFTs and dozens more Legendary and Mythical famous characters that can be pulled.
Further development of our experiences on The Sandbox metaverse is underway, including the launching of a Social Hub that can be used for events, contests, and as a showcase for NFTs.
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
Born 205 BC in Drepana, Siro was a shepherd who chased one of his flock into a temple on Mount Eryx and was sucked into an interdimensional portal to a distant time and place where he was pressed into the service of a galactic alien army.
Born 49 AD in Virunum, Valentin is a common soldier and timid husband of Acca who lived in the shadow of his wife until she was killed defending Emperor Domitian from assassins; henceforth, Valentin vowed revenge on those responsible for her death.
Born 191 BC in Scodra, Kthjellime was a concubine of the defeated king Gentius who disguised herself as a guard captain to avoid capture by the Romans.
Born 211 BC in Gades, Quique was enslaved as a gladiator for rebelling against the governor. His massive size & popularity influenced scouts from 28th century AD to press Quique into service at a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born 299 BC in Perinthus, Epa fought with a Celtic war band that invaded Asia and founded Galatia. Epa’s mind and body were often possessed by a 33rd century AD version of herself who plugged in to experience the glory of defeating the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter in the Battle of Elephants.
Born in 162 AD in Olisipo, Tuouta led a contubernium that was believed to be lost at sea when in fact their ship was sucked through an interdimensional portal, placing them in the Gulf of Mexico where they befriended a technologically advanced Aztec society.
Born in 217 AD in Caesarea, Mavis, a servant of the Temple of Saturn at Thugga, uttered an experimental incantation, opening an interdimensional portal that transported her to a parallel world set in an atomic age in which she became enslaved as a gladiator.
Born in 131 BC in Jutland, Storm was a blacksmith in the disastrous war against the Roman forces of Gaius Marius. After their defeat, his wife, Oda, was enslaved as Marius’ concubine and he was cast into a dimensional portal to serve as a gladiator in a parallel universe of a Roman atomic age.
Born in 111 BC in Amaseia, Strata was a concubine of Mithridates the Great who, upon capture by the Romans, refused to prostitute herself, instead opting to fight as a gladiator where she caught the eye of a dimension hopping patrician who provided her with advanced equipment and tactical training.
Born in 275 BC in Cyrene, Sisa became an expert fighter thanks to an advanced holographic training simulator from the 28th century AD left by her estranged father. Sisa joined the army, helping Hamilcar defeat the Romans in Sicily where she escaped through an interdimensional portal on Mount Eryx to seek out her father.
Born in 168 BC in Patara, Ulix and his sister Anteia were recalcitrant grave robbers who discovered an interdimensional portal in the Harpy Tomb and were transported to an atomic age parallel universe where they were captured and forced to fight as gladiators.
Born in 259 AD in Sarmizegetusa, Wynni was a soldier in the Vandal army that lost to Probus at the Lech river and were exiled to Britain. Seeking revenge, she entered an interdimensional portal at Stonehenge and returned decades later with advanced tactics and equipment to defeat the Roman imperialists once and for all.
Born in 106 AD in Tarraco, Spain, Gertrudis was a soldier in the fabled legion of vampire hunters who traveled through dimensional portals seeking to destroy the antediluvian scourge across space and time.
Born 397 AD in Sirmium, Exene was a war child who spent her youth on the battlefield where she met her husband Alaviv. Together they sacked and pillaged Africa with Genseric’s army until the king, feeling his rule threatened, exiled her through an interdimensional portal to the 20th century.
Born 213 BC in Rome, Cambria and her sister Ursula were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Cambria, who had a history of brawling in the streets in her youth, was installed by her patrician father as a military commander in a reserve unit to keep her busy and out of trouble.
Born 365 AD in Cagliari, Nereus is a pearl diver who discovered an interdimensional portal underwater which he used as his personal playground until he was kidnapped by aliens in league with Emperor Theodosius and forced to battle in a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born in 88 AD in Salona, Callistrate led a cohort of vampire and zombie hunters deep into the heart of Dacia on orders by Trajan to destroy the scourge; however, the soldiers never returned and are believed to have been transported to a distance time and place.
Born in 288 BC in Terme, Anais was blessed by the Goddess Minerva with the power of telepathy. She learned about interdimensional travel by reading the mind of a priest who she forced to send a group of her Amazonian sisters to a Romanesque 28th century AD dominated by women.
Born in 137 BC in Aventicum, Margaux was the mischievous daughter of an eccentric Helvetian sundial craftsman who discovered a telekinesis device in her father’s possession which she purloined and used to dominate her enemies in the gladiator arena.
Born in 109 AD in Inchtuthil, the concubine of a Roman General, Eubha slit her master’s throat and was punished by having her eyes removed and being forced to fight as a gladiator where her sixth sense and fierce nature allowed her to thrive.
Born in 44 BC in Eblana, Conchar is a POW captured in Britain and forced to fight as a gladiator. With an unblemished record of wins, he drew the attention of time traffickers and was portaled to the 28th century AD to fight in the cybercolosseum.
Born in 157 AD in Singidunum to a patrician family with an abusive father, Bruttia fled to Asia as a teenager to where she learned the way of the samurai. On her return home, she was captured and forced to fight as a gladiator in Pula.
Born in 261 AD in Olisipo, Dobiteina and her husband Arco are time slaves who toiled as resurrection gladiators in a distant time and place. After living thousands of lifetimes, they escaped and returned to the 3rd century AD where they triumphed with advanced tactics and equipment in the colosseum.
Born in 163 AD in Barcino, Rasmus, a common thief, was caught stealing and sentenced to fight as a gladiator against Emperor Commodus. Having no fighting experience, he was easily cut down, yet amazingly he survived and is believed to be blessed with magical healing powers.
Born in 255 BC in Hecatompylos, Helya, a direct descendant of Alexander the Great, was a Parthian emissary who learned martial arts in China, later becoming a great warrior who singlehandedly rooted out and eliminated a cohort of dimension hopping alien invaders.
Born in 119 BC in Coracesium, Cyd was an infamous pirate king who wreaked havoc on Roman shipping until he was captured by Pompey and sentenced to fight in the gladiator pits of Rome.
Born in 99 AD in Spain during they heyday of Emperor Trajan, Augustina was sent to the to the gladiator pits after being falsely accused of murdering her parents. After showing great promise as a fighter, she was recruited by a women’s gladiator league from the 28th century AD.
Born in 111 AD in Rome, Herbertus is a soldier of the Lost Cohort, which disappeared on campaign in Caledonia. Muco and his comrades were transported to an alternate dimension where they were equipped with hi-tech weapons and armor by sympathetic druid hackers seeking new allies.
Born in 48 AD in Ravenna, Eunice is an expert knife fighter who is known to have killed dozens of men in self defense before joining the IV Legion. Loyal to Otho, she participated in the assassination of Emperor Galba, but was later forced to flee into an interdimensional portal to escape capture by Vitellius.
Born in 201 AD in Valentia, Bern, a friend & guard of Emperor Severus Alexander, traveled through a dimensional portal to gain intel on German invaders, but was lost in time and the delay resulted in the assassination of Severus by his own troops.
Born in 142 AD in Salona, Decima is an acrobatic martial artist who joined the legion at a young age disguised as a boy, and was soon spotted by a dimension-traveling priest who sent her to the 28th century AD to avoid discovery.
Born in 109 BC in Coracesium, Calypso was an infamous pirate queen who wreaked havoc on Roman shipping until she was captured by Pompey and sentenced to fight in the gladiator pits of Rome.
Born in 106 AD, Rabbel guarded the royal tombs of Petra until one day he disappeared into a dimensional portal, sending him to a distant place and time where he was pressed into service as a cybergladiator.
Born in 51 AD in Virunum, Acca, the daughter of a Roman general and a servant woman, was raised in the Second Legion and became a fiercely loyal soldier for the Flavian Emperors. It is said that Acca died attempting to prevent the assassination of Domitian.
Born in 279 BC in Terme, at a young age Babe fell in love with Remigius, a dimension hopping rube from the 20th century AD. Soon tiring of the domestic lifestyle, she fled to the 28th century to join the Amazonian sisterhood of cybergladiators.
Born in 466 BC in Meroë, much of the life of Baskomanisken is unknown other than they were a vile sorcerer born without eyes who conjured a portal to alternate dimensions, discovered the secret for long life and spent most of it thirsting for blood and glory in gladiator pits across space and time.
Born in 49 BC in Amaseia, Voxia and her twin brother Nico were abandoned by their paranoid father and raised by dimension crossing brigands who trained them as deadly killers. Bitter and resentful of her father, Voxia is known to have clawed off the face of any man who dared try to rape her.
Born in 496 AD in Cuenca in a dimension where the Roman Empire had conquered America, not much else is known about Killa other than they are a bloodthirsty, undefeated gladiator known as the Cyberdemon who hops dimensions to challenge new foes across space and time.
Born in 356 BC in Neapolis on the Crimean peninsula, Alkaia is an Amazonian warrior queen who was captured by time traffickers to battle in a futuristic cybercolosseum in the 28th century AD.
Born in 134 BC in Ctesiphon, Azafrooz is a soldier in the army of Mithridates II of Parthia who, along with his brother Vorn accompanied the envoy Orobazus to parley with the Roman Sulla. Having failed to negotiate a truce, Azafrooz returned home in shame, while Vorn was enslaved as a gladiator.
Born in 158 AD in Lugdunum, Liv lived as a dancer assassin during the times of Marcus Aurelius, but was cast into an interdimensional speculum by a jealous Commodus. Transported to the 26th century, she flourished as a singer soldier who spearheaded a major troop recruitment campaign.
Born in 202 BC in Carthage, Zibqet is an illegitimate child of the Roman General Scipio Africanus. Her natural fighting talents brought her to the legion along with her sister Elissa. The two eventually went AWOL through a dimensional portal and flourished as vigilantes in a 22nd century dystopian megacity.
Born in 185 AD in Fife, Osgar was raised to hate the Romans and fought stubbornly against the invasion of Septimius Severus in 208 AD, using future technology obtained from dimension hopping druids to help push the invaders back to Hadrian’s Wall.
Born in 130 BC in Cirta, Thyra was a battled hardened daughter of King Jugurtha who betrayed her benighted father to Sulla and later became the leader of a zombie-hunting cohort in Volubilis.
Born in 169 AD in Meroë, Sami is a warrior priest who spent his life fighting against incursions from Roman Egypt, using the dimensional portal in the Pyramid of Amanishakheto to invoke the technological support of alien masters from a distant future galaxy.
Born in 114 AD in Augusta Vindelicorum, Vin is a battled hardened P.O.W. forced to fight as a gladiator in Rome who, after earning his freedom after multiple victories, opted to keep fighting for the love of killing.
Born in 88 AD in Susa, Kendal Kush is a Parthian soldier who fought her entire life against the Roman Emperors Trajan & Hadrian. Refusing to be subjugated by man and foe, she took hundreds of enemy lives before being struck down in the field of battle by a poison arrow.
Born in 181 AD in Osaka, Ojin was a Samurai sent on an intelligence gathering mission to Rome who decided to stay and join the Roman legion in the fight against the rising Vampire and Zombie menace in Dacia.
Born in 222 AD in Burdigala, Tilda grew up as a rebellious youth, often staying out all night fighting and reveling in the streets. One night she was picked up by a gang of time traffickers who pressed her into service as a gladiator in the 28th century. She made it her mission to return home to her grieving family.
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